EARLIER THIS WEEK, SPEAKING TO A GATHERING OF BLACK JOURNALIST, FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP QUESTION KAMALA HARRIS’ RACIAL IDENTITY.
MR. TRUMP: NOW SHE WANTS TO BE KNOWN AS BLACK.
IS SHE INDIAN OR BLACK?
I RESPECT EITHER ONE BUT SHE OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT.
SHE WAS INDIAN ALL THE WAY AND THEN ALL THIS TIME SHE MADE A TURN AND SHE BECAME A BLACK PERSON.
LAURA: IT IS NOT THE FIRST TIME MR. TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS HAVE ACCUSED A POLITICIAN OF COLOR OF NOT KNOWING THEIR OWN RACE OR ETHNICITY.
TRUMP’S COMMENTS ON WEDNESDAY ECHOED HIS LIES ABOUT HARRIS IN 2020 AND BARACK OBAMA OBAMA DURING HIS PRESIDENCY THAT THEY WERE NOT NATURAL BORN AMERICAN CITIZENS.
PENIEL JOSEPH IS THE FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RACE AND DEMOCRACY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
HE IS ALSO AN AUTHOR OF THE THIRD RECONSTRUCTION: AMERICA’S STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY.
I WANT TO FIRST NOTE THAT BACK IN 2020, DONALD TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON SAID THE KAMALA HARRIS IS A BLACK WOMAN AND POINTED TO DONATIONS THAT TRUMP HAD MADE TO HER EARLIER CAMPAIGNS AS EVIDENCE THAT HE IS NOT RACIST.
AGAIN, THESE ARE NOT THE FIRST INSTANCES OF TRUMP QUESTIONING HARRIS’ IDENTITY AND HER RACE.
WHAT IS BEHIND THIS?
>> I THINK THIS IS A LONG-STANDING TRADITION OF QUESTIONING THE CITIZENSHIP, AUTHENTICITY OF BLACK POLITICAL FIGURES.
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS IN THIS CONTEXT, WHAT BLACK IS DOING IS REALLY TALKING TO HIS OWN BASE.
HE IS TALKING TO WHITE VOTERS WHO ARE AGGRIEVED BY THIS IDEA, WHICH IS FALSE, THAT THEY ARE BEING REPLACED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR.
SOMETIMES THEY FEEL THEY ARE BEING REPLACED BY JEWS.
THERE IS THIS RACIST, ANTI-SEMITIC STRAIN THAT HE IS TAPPING INTO BUY THINGS SHE DOES NOT KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE SOUTH ASIAN, SHE DOES NOT KNOW IF SHE WANTS TO BE BLACK.
HE IS SIGNALING TO HIS FOLLOWERS THAT THIS IS THE COMING WAVE THAT I AM HERE TO PROTECT YOU AGAINST.
LAURA: AS YOU NOTED, DONALD TRUMP IS NOT THE ONLY WHITE POLITICIAN TO QUESTION THE IDENTITY OF PEOPLE OF COLOR OR TRY TO DEFINE WHO IS OR IS NOT REALLY BLACK.
HOW FAR DOES THIS GO BACK?
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THIS?
>> THE HISTORY OF QUESTIONING PEOPLE’S RACIAL IDENTITY GOES BACK — IN CERTAIN CONTEXT AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO WERE MIXED RACE TRY TO GET THERE RIGHTS LEGALLY ACKNOWLEDGED BY COURTS.
IN THIS COUNTRY WE REALLY HAVE A ONE DROP RULE, WHETHER YOUR MOTHER OR FATHER WAS WHITE, YOU WERE LEGALLY DEFINED AS BLACK AS A SPECIES OF PROPERTY WHO COULD NOT BE WILLED TO ANY ESTATES, WHO COULD NOT RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE, WHO COULD NOT SIT ON JURIES.
WE FAST-FORWARD TO THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY, AS WE KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS OF MIXED RACE HERITAGE BUT ARE STILL IDENTIFIED AS BLACK.
KAMALA HARRIS WENT TO HOWARD UNIVERSITY, A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE, SHE IS IN ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA, PART OF THE DESIGN NINE AFRICAN-AMERICAN SORORITIES AND FRATERNITIES.
SHE HAS LIVED HER LIFE AS A BLACK WOMAN.
THE MOVE TO UNDERMINE THE AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE OF BLACK PEOPLE PLAYS OUT DIFFERENT CONTEXT.
IN THIS CONTEXT, IT IS A DENIAL THAT A BLACK WOMAN COULD BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
THAT RACIAL AND GENDER BARRIER OF ONE OF THE LAST SYMBOLIC BARRIERS THAT WE HAVE TO BREAK.
LAURA: I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT A SURVEY THAT DATES BACK TO 2022.
IT FOUND THAT RACES VARY — IT FOUND THAT 76% OF BLACK AMERICANS SAY BEING BLACK IS EXTREMELY OR VERY IMPORTANT TO HOW THEY THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES.
WHAT HAPPENS TO BLACK AMERICANS WHEN SOMEONE WHO IS IN A LEADING POSITION LIKE DONALD TRUMP JUST OPENLY RUSSIANS WHO IS OR IS NOT BLACK?
>> I THINK IT MAKES BLACK AMERICANS THINK ABOUT THE SOLIDARITY OF THEIR SHARED HISTORY.
IN CERTAIN WAYS, TRUMP AND THESE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST KAMALA HARRIS, JUST LIKE THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST BARACK OBAMA THAT HE WAS NOT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, OR A DISTRACTION.
A NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING WRITER REMINDS US THAT RACISM IS A DISTRACTION FROM THE WORK WE NEED TO DO.
RIGHT NOW ALL OF THE REACTION THAT WE ARE SEEING IS THE BLACK COMMUNITY IS SOLIDLY BEHIND THE VICE PRESIDENT BUT ALSO OTHER GROUPS ARE, AS WELL.
IT IS HAVING THE OPPOSITE EFFECT.
I DO NOT THINK IT IS INTENDED TO BE DIRECTED TO BLACK PEOPLE.
LAURA: WHEN I COVERED THE 2019 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY, EVEN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY VOTERS SAID TO ME THEY WERE NOT SURE IF THE COUNTRY WAS READY FOR A WOMAN PRESIDENT OR A WOMAN OF COLOR TO BE PRESIDENT.
DO YOU THINK IT IS DIFFERENT NOW?
>> YES.
THE COUNTRY IS ALWAYS BATTLING BETWEEN TWO STORIES IT IS TELLING ITSELF.
ONE STORY IS A RECONSTRUCTIONIST STORY THAT CELEBRATES MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY.
THE OTHER IS A REDEMPTION NEXT STORY THAT IS ABOUT FEAR, ANXIETY, A RACIAL CASTE SYSTEM THAT SUBORDINATES BLACK PEOPLE, PEOPLE OF COLOR, JEWS, PEOPLE WHO ARE OTHERIZED IN OUR SOCIETY .
THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA IN 2008 OPENED UP THIS THIRD RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD IN THE UNITED STATES FOR WE HAVE BEEN PUSHING FOR AN EMBRACE OF MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY YET THAT REDEMPTION IS FORCES ARE STILL THERE AS WE SAW WITH THE VICE PRESIDENT’S RUN TO BE THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN PRESIDENT AND FIRST SOUTH ASIAN PRESIDENT.
WE FIND STRENGTH IN THE DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY WITHIN OUR COUNTRY.
LAURA: PROFESSOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
>> THANK YOU.
♪